Strategies to overcome statin intolerance

Abstract

This editorial discusses several options to overcome statin intolerance in clinical practice. For example, switching to a different statin, changing statin dosing, using lipid-lowering drugs other than statins (e.g., ezetimibe, bile acid sequestrants and fibrates, alone or in combination), or combining statins with other lipid-lowering drugs. The authors focus on the potential mechanisms involved in statin-related myopathy. New lipid-lowering drugs currently in development (e.g., cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitors [anacetrapib] and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9 inhibitors) inhibitors may help in the management of statin intolerance while achieving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol targets as set out by the guidelines.

Keywords: combination therapy; ezetimibe; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol targets; myopathy; statin intolerance.